Karen-With the small heirlooms we used, splatter in the oven wasn't an issue at all. As you might be able to tell from the pics, we put parchment paper under the racks and there wasn't even a single drop of tomato goop on the paper after the process.The kitchen heat can be an issue, especially in your climate, but we are now having a string of days with temps only rising into the high 70s.

Jo Ann-That Indigo Rose looks interesting. Let us have a complete report when it ripens.

Redwinger wrote:Karen-With the small heirlooms we used, splatter in the oven wasn't an issue at all. As you might be able to tell from the pics, we put parchment paper under the racks and there wasn't even a single drop of tomato goop on the paper after the process.The kitchen heat can be an issue, especially in your climate, but we are now having a string of days with temps only rising into the high 70s.

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I think on the low heat for the drying, it won't be an issue and I am about ready to try it. It is an issue when I roast, however.

just roasted up a batch myself. About three hours at 300 got me the most perfect tender-chewy result. I'm having friends over tonight for a green enchilada pie and thought the roasted (roma) tomatoes with a fresh oregano vinaigrette and toasted pepitos (pumpkin seeds) would make a very companionable salad.

Jenise, tell me about your green enchilada pie. Most have cream of mushroom soup, but I doubt you used that. What did you use in place of that ingredient, to hold it all together?

Jo Ann Henderson wrote:I have tomatoes that are just beginning to ripen. Unlike Jenise, my tomatoes are thrilled with the weather and have jumped to almost 6 ft tall fines full of leaves and fruit. So much so that one of them broke the stake and spilled over yesterday morning. Took quite a few minutes to pull it all back together. I'll be working on thinning this weekend, with an eye toward saving as much as the fruit as possible. I managed to get two off the Flamé vine yesterday that I ate right in the garden. Delicious! The one I'm looking forward to tasting is a new cultivar called indigo rose. This is a picture of the early fruit, which should be turning almost burgundy red with a black crown in a couple weeks.

P1010177 (800x601).jpg

Wow, very interesting reading about that tomato...it is beautiful and sounds like worth the wait. Let us know how it tastes, texture, etc. when you harvest. I am going to see if that will grow in Redding.

Karen/NoCA wrote:Jenise, tell me about your green enchilada pie. Most have cream of mushroom soup, but I doubt you used that. What did you use in place of that ingredient, to hold it all together?

No canned soup, but I did use a canned product for the sauce, Hatch brand green enchilada sauce, which I whizzed through the blender with a small handful of cilantro and strips of my own frozen green chiles.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

No canned soup, but I did use a canned product for the sauce, Hatch brand green enchilada sauce, which I whizzed through the blender with a small handful of cilantro and strips of my own frozen green chiles.

I love that product and the only place I can find it right now is one of our local health food stores. It is amazing what you can find in there. Speaking of Hatch Chiles, it is almost time, isn't it? I'm wondering if they will be early this year, since most everything else was about a month early.

I dried tomatoes this afternoon, a small batch that were picked last week, still firm however. They were Celebrity, Lemon Boy...regular tomatoes. Put them on 300° for about 2 1/2 hours. Checked them and they looked dry, felt dry to the touch. I turned off the oven and let them sit for about 20 minutes and took them out. Went to take them off the tray and most of them were still on the wet side, yet peeled off the rack in one piece....they needed more time in the oven. Lesson #1 learned. I will try the Roma type as I think these were too wet and not meaty enough. However, I did make Jenise's fresh oregano vinaigrette and I am putting the tomatoes on baguette bread tonight with arugula and a drizzle of the vinaigrette to go with our Orzo and Shrimp leftover dish, which turned out fabulous.

Some of the thinner cuts of the Lemon Boy tomato were actually starting to brown on the edges but were still moist after a few minutes out of the oven.

No canned soup, but I did use a canned product for the sauce, Hatch brand green enchilada sauce, which I whizzed through the blender with a small handful of cilantro and strips of my own frozen green chiles.

I love that product and the only place I can find it right now is one of our local health food stores. It is amazing what you can find in there. Speaking of Hatch Chiles, it is almost time, isn't it? I'm wondering if they will be early this year, since most everything else was about a month early.

I hadn't tried it before. A discussion of the coming of Hatch chile time caused a friend to tell me how good it was "but you can only get it in Arizona"--and the very next day I found it here, at the local Food Coop, which is essentially a health food store. She was my dinner guest for that enchilada pie.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Karen/NoCA wrote:I dried tomatoes this afternoon, a small batch that were picked last week, still firm however. They were Celebrity, Lemon Boy...regular tomatoes. Put them on 300° for about 2 1/2 hours. Checked them and they looked dry, felt dry to the touch. I turned off the oven and let them sit for about 20 minutes and took them out. Went to take them off the tray and most of them were still on the wet side, yet peeled off the rack in one piece....they needed more time in the oven. Lesson #1 learned. I will try the Roma type as I think these were too wet and not meaty enough. However, I did make Jenise's fresh oregano vinaigrette and I am putting the tomatoes on baguette bread tonight with arugula and a drizzle of the vinaigrette to go with our Orzo and Shrimp leftover dish, which turned out fabulous.

Some of the thinner cuts of the Lemon Boy tomato were actually starting to brown on the edges but were still moist after a few minutes out of the oven.

I'll bet they were delicious anyway. Did you remove the pulp? One needs to, though with romas the ratio of pump to flesh is pretty low.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Gooseberries. Had a windfall from a friend and madly dashing for things to do with them. First off a very nice sauce with sage. Said to be good with pork and I can see why. The sage perfectly enhances some of the subtle flavors in the berry. Next a polenta gooseberry tart using coarse cornmeal and Elderflower liqueur. Again a beautiful compliment to the berry. I have found it so interesting to work with these berries. It's a shame that you only ever see it in jam, the sugar totally masking it's interesting flavors.

Here is the basic recipe. We substituted some sweet banana peppers for the red bells because we had them on hand, as well as a clove of garlic. NJ and I disagree, but I thought it could have had a bit more kick, so next time we'll add a fresh chili pepper and maybe a bit more garlic.

Preheat broiler. Line the broiler pan with foil and arrange the eggplant and zuke slices in a single layer on the foil. Brush generously with olive oil. Broil the veggies until just starting to char…maybe 5 minutes. Turn and broil 5 more minutes. Arrange on the bottom of the tart shell.

Arrange the red and yellow bell pepper quarters skin side up, together with the onion rings, on the foil lined broiler pan. Brush with olive oil. Broil approx.. 6 or 7 minutes until starting to char. Arrange them over the other veggies in the shell. Sprinkle with the goat cheese.

Preheat oven to 400F. Beat the cream with the egg and egg yolk. Stir in the Parmesan, oregano, tomato paste and chili flakes until well blended. Pour over the veggies in the tart shell. Bake until the filling is set and the top well colored…about 20-25 minutes.Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

Traveling family members passing through today and spending the night. I've made a tasty chicken, taco soup, a salad of watermelon, shallot, feta cheese, lemon and mint. Plus Kalamata olive ciabatta bread. Gene is making root beer floats for dessert!

Here is the basic recipe. We substituted some sweet banana peppers for the red bells because we had them on hand, as well as a clove of garlic. NJ and I disagree, but I thought it could have had a bit more kick, so next time we'll add a fresh chili pepper and maybe a bit more garlic.

Preheat broiler. Line the broiler pan with foil and arrange the eggplant and zuke slices in a single layer on the foil. Brush generously with olive oil. Broil the veggies until just starting to char…maybe 5 minutes. Turn and broil 5 more minutes. Arrange on the bottom of the tart shell.

Arrange the red and yellow bell pepper quarters skin side up, together with the onion rings, on the foil lined broiler pan. Brush with olive oil. Broil approx.. 6 or 7 minutes until starting to char. Arrange them over the other veggies in the shell. Sprinkle with the goat cheese.

Preheat oven to 400F. Beat the cream with the egg and egg yolk. Stir in the Parmesan, oregano, tomato paste and chili flakes until well blended. Pour over the veggies in the tart shell. Bake until the filling is set and the top well colored…about 20-25 minutes.Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

Bill, thanks SO much. Looking closer, it's really kind of a ratatouille pie, isn't it? I appreciate your taking the time to post as well as add your comments. I like the idea of the chile, but also would be tempted to add a little green bell pepper or maybe pasilla chile too--the red and yellow bell peppers are all sweet and the contrast of the green pepper, if you like them, might add some good sharp notes.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Tonight it is Ahi Tuna on the grill, of course, and cooked rare, served with a refreshing pineapple salsa with red jalapeño from the garden. Also on the grill is globe squash, cut into thick slices and marinated in smokey sea salt, fresh lemon juice and evoo. We will share an Asian yam rubbed with organic coconut oil and sea salt,then baked.

We've been at the beach, Ocean City Maryland, for the past two weeks and last night I put together a heirloom tomato salad served with a board of sliced Chesapeake chicken, sliced roasted pepper and spinach sausage and sliced avocado. The tomato salad was accompanied with pesto and mozzarella injected with a ricotta mixture which provided a creaminess to the spread. The tomato salad was drizzled with a very good California olive oil...excellent!

Tonight it is home made pizza with a garlic, herby crust. Toppings will be home made sauce from our tomatoes, fresh garlic, shallot, basil, and maybe Kalamata olives. A salad of butter lettuce, with purple leaf lettuce, cucumber, radish,chive, and yellow pear tomatoes, with a lemon vinaigrette.

Today's breakfast was entirely from the garden (apart from the spices and butter/olive oil): over easy duck eggs (our layers' first eggs!) and spicy green beans sauteed with garlic, aleppo pepper and my fiancee's secret spice mix. A very hearty and spicy way to start the day!